ANSA news

Macedonia: Minister Dimitrov thinking about changing name

Mon, 12/06/2017 - 16:44

(ANSA) - SKOPJE - Macedonia does not rule out the possibility
of changing name to induce Greece to take away the veto that has
long blocked the path of the former Yugoslavia republic to join
NATO and the EU, foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov announced. In
an interview with the Financial Times, published by the media in
Skopje, Dimitrov said that the new name agreed with Athens and
with the consent of all Macedonian political forces would be
submitted to a referendum in Macedonia. According to the daily,
the new name could be 'High Macedonia'. The longstanding dispute
over the name between Skopje and Athens has so far prevented
Macedonia - which has been a candidate country for EU membership
since 2005 - to move forward on the road to Euro-Atlantic
integration, due to Greece's veto.
Athens argues that the name Macedonia, a region in the north of
the country, belongs exclusively to Greek historical and
cultural heritage and asks the former Yugoslavia republic to
change its name. After the independence gained with the
dissolution of the old Socialist Yugoslavian Federation, Skopje
was accepted among he United Nations with the acronym Fyrom,
which stands for Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Dimitrov
is today in Brussels along with the new Macedonian Prime
Minister Zoran Zaev, to visit the EU and NATO institutions, and
he is planning a meeting on Wednesday with Greek Foreign
Minister Nikos Kotzias, who will probably talk about the issue.
(ANSA).

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